Wringer mechanism



Dec, 11 1923. 1,4715% A. W. KRAHN WRINGER MECHANISM Filed July 15. 1920* a Sheeosh eet 1 @ywamtm WRINGER MECHANISM Filed July 15, 1920 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

la 30 H Patented Dec. 111, 1923.

UNHTED STTES ALVIN W. KRAHN, OF MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN.

WRINGER MECHANISM.

Application filed July 15,

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, ALvIN IV. KRAHN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Milwaukee, county of Milwaukee, and State of Wisconsin, have invented new and useful Improvements in Wringer Mechanism, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in wringer mechanisms designed particularly as a clothes wringer mechanism but adapted also for use in any case where rollers are operated in pressure relation to each other un der conditions which make an instant relief of such pressure desirable.

The objects of my invention are to provide an improved form of construction in which the pressure of the rollers upon each other will be automatically relieved whenever the material passing between the rollers causes them to separate beyond a predetermined limit; also to provide improved means whereby such pressure may be manually relieved instantaneously and at any time, regardless of whether the rollers are separated by material passing between them or not; also to provide means whereby in case the operator should accidentally fall against the wringer from his normal posi tion in front of the machine the pressure of the rollers upon each other may be instantaneously relieved as soon as any portion of the body, arms, or hand of the operator bears against a controller bar positioned as a guard across the end posts of the wringer or in any position to serve as a guard for such space and for the rollers which occupy the lower portion thereof.

My invention is of particular importance for embodiments in wringers which are driven by mechanical power for in the use of such wringers, it frequently becomes necessary or desirable to instantaneously release the rollers from pressure and allow them to freely separate in order to avoid damage to the material, or to the wringer mechanism, or in some cases to avoid injury to the person of the operator, and it is also extremely desirable in the use of such wringer that an automatic means for relieving the roller pressure be provided as a safeguard against careless operation in attempting to pass too much material between the rollers at one time, or to pass bunched or knotted material between them which might damage either the material or the mechanism and 1920. Serial No. 396,453.

from which the water would in any event not be properly expelled.

In the embodiment of my invention shown in the drawings.

Fig. 1 is a front elevation.

Fig. 2 is an end elevation with dotted lines indicating the position of the parts when the upper wringer roller is released.

Fig. 3 is a detail sectional View drawn generally on line 33 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view drawn on line 44 of Fig. 2.

Like parts are identified by the same reference characters throughout the several views.

The lower roller 1 is provided with a supporting shaft 2 journalled in suitable bearings 3 of a frame 4 which comprises the main frame of the wringer mechanism. These parts may be assumed to be of ordinary construction, but the upper wringer roller 6 is provided with a supporting shaft 7 which is journalled in vertically movable bearing members 8. each of which is provided with a depending guide rod 9 adapted to slide thru suitable apertures in brackets 10 and 11 connected with the frame 4. The apertures 12 in the bracket 11 are preferably elongated laterally in order that the posts 9 may not bind when the roller 7 is being lifted or lowered.

To apply the necessary yielding pressure to the roller 7 in such a manner that it may be automatically relieved under certain conditions and instantly relieved manually under other conditions, I provide a swinging sub-frame having a set of arms each pivoted to one side of the frame at 16 and having a curved portion or bow 17 which is adapted to extend partially around the associated bearing member 8 and support a spring retaining guide post 18 which constitutes an upwardly extending rod-like extension of the arm and receives the compression spring 19. The upper or outer end of each post 18 is provided with a cap nut 20 having a flange or washer 21 which serves as a seating for the upper end of the s ring 19. At the lower end of the spring, a 0 amping shoe 22 is loosely fitted over the upper end portion of the bow 17 and is provided with a sleeve 23 which loosely receives the post 18. The shoe 22 has an inclined clamplng face 24 adapted to engage upon the rounded upper surface 25 of the associated bearing member 8. The clamping face 24 inclines downwardly in the opposite direction from that in which the bow 17 extends, whereby, when the shoe is adjusted over the surface 25 of the associated bearing member 8, the ressure of the spring tends to hold it agamst retraction, the shoe tending to slide forwardly, or toward the side opposite that occupied by the bow 17.

But the inner inclined face 28 at the upper end-of the how 17 is in the path of the bearing member 8, when the latter moves upwardly against the-pressure resiliently exerted by the spring 19. Therefore, when the bearing member 8 is lifted by clot-hing or other material beyond a predetermined normal limit of separation from the lower roller, it will move with a wedging action against said inclined face 28 until the bow 17 is pushed backwardly carrying with it the shoe 22 and also the spring post and spring to release the roller 6 from pressure.

his action must, of course, occur simultaneously at both ends of the wringer in order to release the roller 6. As soon as the clamping shoes 22 are withdrawn, the roller 6 will not only be relieved from pressure but it may be lifted freely and wholly removed, if desired, by raising it sufficiently to withdraw the guide rods 9 from the brackets 10 and 11.

The shoes 22 are preferably saddle shaped, and formed to straddle the upper ends of the bows 17 as best shown in Figure 3. They are connected by an arched rod 30, which serves as a guard and also as a controller bar whereby both shoes may be instantaneously retracted by a backward push upon any portion of this rod, such as might be exerted intentionally by the hand or arm of the operator or accidentally by any portion of the body in case the operator should fall toward or against the wringer.

The saddle form of the shoes 22 and the sliding engagement of their sleeves 23 with the rods or posts 18 prevent a release of the shoes from their supporting arms when swung bac-kwardly. The bows 17 also limit the downward movements of the shoes and the shoes in turn limit the expansion of the springs. The shoes are held by the bows in such a position that they will re-engage the rounded surfaces 25 of the bearing members 8 andbe lifted thereby sufficiently to put the rollers under resilient pressure when the arms are swung to normal upright positicin with the posts 18 substantially vertica In the foregoing description, the side of the wringer occupied by the guide posts or rods 9 is referred to as the front side. The terms front and rear, however, are merely used to facilitate description and to indicate that the wringer will ordinarily be used in such a manner that the wet clothing will be fed into it from the side herein designated as the front side. In case the operator should stand at the opposite side of the wringer to feed clothes thru the wringer therefrom, it would, of course, be necessary to pull upon the arched bar or rod 30 in order to manually release the clamping shoes 22.

I claim:

1. A wringer including the combination of a main frame, a roller journaled therein, a co-operating displaceable roller provided with hearing members removable from the main frame, a set of resiliently yielding shoes movable with a wedging action upon said bearing members to hold them and their associated roller in normal position with the rollers in mutual pressure contact, and a swinging support for said shoes adapted to carry them in and out of position for wedgin cont-act with the bearing members and adapted under manual pressure to retract the shoes from said bearing members and release them and their associated roller.

2. A wringer mechanism provided with superposed rollers, spring actuated retaining shoes arranged to normally hold one of the rollers in pressure relation to the other, movable supporting devices for the shoes, having cam surfaces, and means connected with one of the rollers and adapted to move against said cam surfaces during separating movement of the rollers, in a direction to retract the supporting devices and withdraw the shoes from holding relation to their associated roller.

3. A wringer mechanism comprising the combination with a frame provided with a set of wringer rollers, movable bearings for one of the rollers, spring actuated shoes for applying pressure to said movable bear ings, and supports for said shoes pivotally connected with the frame below said movable bearings, and provided with faces obliquely disposed across the paths of said bearing members, and adapted to be enga ed when the bearing members have moved a predetermined distance in o position to the shoe pressure, whereby saic supports may 1 be swung in a direction to retract the shoes and automatically relieve the roller from pressure.

4:. A wringer including the combination of a main frame, a set of superposed rollers sup-ported thereby and adapted for normal pressure contact, removable bearings for the upper roller, a swinging support pivotally connected with the main frame, and resiliently yielding shoes connected with said support and having portions adapted to be carried thereby in an arc of swinging movement into wedging engagement with said bearing members and to a holding position beyond and slightly below the highest point of such engagement, whereby said shoes tend to maintain a pressure engagement with said bearing members, subject to release when the support is retracted.

5. A wringer mechanism including the combination with a wringer frame, of a set of normally superposed rollers, movable bearings for the upper roller provided with depending guide rods in sliding connection with the frame, and independently movable resiliently yielding members adapted. to swing into and out of engagement with said bearings, said members when in engagement with the bearings being adapted to co-operate with the guide rods in holding the upper roller in resilient pressure relation to the lower roller.

6. A wringer mechanism including the combination with the wringer frame, ofia roller shaft, bearings therefor located above the frame and provided with depending guide rods in sliding connection with the frame, and swinging arms pivotally connected with the frame and provided with resiliently mounted clamping shoes adapted to engage the bearings and apply downward pressure thru them to the roller shaft.

7. A wringer mechanism including the combination with the wringer frame, of a roller shaft, bearings therefor located above the frame and provided with depending guide rods in free sliding connection with the frame, swinging arms pivotally connected with the frame and also connected with each other, and means carried thereby for resiliently engaging and releasing the bearings.

8. A wringer mechanism includingthe combination with the wringer frame, of a roller shaft, bearings therefor located above the frame, depending guide rods in sliding connection with the frame, and swinging arms pivotally connected with the frame and provided with resiliently mounted clamping shoes adapted to engage the bearings and apply downward pressure thru them and the roller shaft to the roller, said arms being located at the respective ends of the wringer frame and connected with each other above said roller to facilitate swinging the arms to move the shoes into and out of clamping relation to the bearings.

9. A wringer mechanism including the combination with a wringer frame, of a set of C o-operating rollers, one having bearing members supported for vertical movement relative to the frame, and instantly operable means for applying resilient pressure to said bearing members, said means comprising a sub-frame pivotally connected to the wringer frame, springs carried by the subframe, shoes provided with cam surfaces engageable over the movable bearings, and means for limiting the movement of said shoes when they are not engaged with the movable bearing members, whereby a minimum compression for said springs is defined.

10. A wringer mechanism including the combination with a wringer frame, of a set of co-operating rollers, one having bearings supported for movement to and from the bearings of the other roller, a sub-frame pivotally connected to the wringer frame, a set of bearing engaging members supported from the sub-frame and movable therewith across the path of the bearing members to engage and subject them to pressure and to release them therefrom, springs arranged to provide resilient pressure upon said bearing engaging members, and means for limiting the movement of said bearing engaging members, whereby they are maintained in position for reengagement with said bearings when disengaged therefrom, thereengagement of the bearing engaging members with the bearings being adapted to increase the compression of said springs.

11. In a wringer mechanism, the combination of a main frame, a set of removablebearing members, a wringer roller journaled in said bearing members, a swinging frame pivoted to the main frame substantially in a vertical plane of the axis of the roller, and resiliently yielding shoes carried by the swinging frame and adapted to engage and move along a curved path in pressure relation to said bearing members across the line of maximum pressure thereon to a position of self retention, subject to release under manual pressure against said swinging frame, and means for limiting the movement of the shoes in the direction of roller engagement upon reaching their position to self-retention.

12. A wringer mechanism, including the combination of a set of cooperating rollers, means for supporting them in normal work ing relation to each other, instantly adjustable independently movable means for sub-- jecting said rollers to resilient pressure upon each other, said independently movable means comprising supporting members, clamping shoes movably connected therewith, and adapted to be carried thereby into and out of clamping relation to the bearings and resilient devices on the supporting members in pressure relation to the clamping shoes, and adapted to transmit pressure thru them to one of the rollers when the supporting members are in one position of adjustment.

13. A wringer mechanism, including the combination of a set of cooperating rollers provided respectively with relatively fixed and movable bearings, independently movable sup-porting members, clamping shoes movably connected therewith, and resilient devices on the supporting members in pressure relation to the clamping shoes and adapted to transmit pressure thru the clamping shoes to the movable bearings when the supporting members are in one position of adjustment.

14. A wringer mechanism, including the combination with a wringer frame, of a set of cooperating rollers having relatively fixed and movable bearing members connected with the frame, supporting members pivoted to the frame below the movable bearing members and having upwardly projecting portions adapted to be adjusted to positions above said members, clamping shoes loosely connectedwith the supporting members and adapted for sliding engage ment with the bearing members, springs carried by the supporting members in pressure applying relation to the clamping shoes.

15. A wringer mechanism, including the combination with a wringer frame, of a set of cooperating rollers having relatively fixed and movable bearing members connected with the frame, supporting members pivoted to the frame below the movable bearing members and having upwardly projecting portions adapted to be adjusted to positions above said members, clamping shoes loosely connected with the supporting members and adapted for sliding engagement with the bearing members, springs carried by the supporting members in pressure applying relation to the clamping shoes, said clamping shoes having inclined faces adapted when the supports are being swung to clamping position to move over the bearing members to positions of downward'inc-lination thereon toward the side opposite that from. which the supports are swung.

16. Av wringer mechanism, including the combination with a wringer frame, of a set of cooperating rollers having relatively fixed and movable bearing members connected with the frame, supporting members pivoted to the frame below the movable bearing members and having upwardly projecting portions adapted to be adjusted to positions above said members, clamping shoes loosely connected with the supporting members and adapted for sliding engagement with the bearing members, springs carried by the supporting members in pressure applymg relation to the clamping shoes, said clamping shoes having inclined faces adapted when the supports are being swung to clamping position to move over the bearing members to positions of downward in clination thereon toward the side opposite that from which the supports are swung,

of cooperating rollers respectively provided 1 with fixed and movable bearings, ofa set of clamping shoes adapted to engage and normally hold the movable bearing members and their associated roller to the frame in working relation to the other bearing members and roller, supports for the shoes pivotally connected with the frame and provided with springs in pressure applying re-' lation to the shoes, anda connect-ion between said supports adapted to be manually actuated to move the supports and their associated springs and shoes into and out of pressure applying relation to the movable bearings.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

ALVIN W. KRAHN.

Witnesses LEVERETT 0. WHEELER, 0. C. WEBER; 

